After the student loan pause expires on August 30, 2023, our income-based repayment calculator below shows your available payment options (it might happen sooner if the Supreme Court rules against the Biden administration). Our IBR calculator incorporates the recently announced Biden IDR plan, which won’t be available until 2023, as well as the most recent federal poverty line figures for 2022.
To lower your monthly payments, compare the results of this IDR calculator with those provided by your loan servicer. Note that as new information becomes available, the Biden IBR plan that we modeled will be updated.
Income Based Repayment Calculator (Fully Updated with Biden Plan)
| Biden New IBR Plan | REPAYE | PAYE | Old IBR | Standard 10 Year | Refinanced at 4.00% Monthly payment if the loan is refinanced at 4.00% APR for a 10-year term. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your Monthly Payment | $375 | $375 | $375 | $562 | $2,220 | $2,025 |
| Spouses Monthly Payment | $187 | $187 | $187 | $281 | $1,110 | $1,012 |
| Total | $187 | $187 | $187 | $281 | $1,110 | $1,012 |
Income-Based Repayment is one of several Income-Driven Repayment plans provided by the Department of Education, despite the fact that the terms “Income-Based Repayment” and “Income-Driven Repayment” are frequently used interchangeably.
The other IDR plans in addition to Income-Based Repayment (IBR) include:
Generally speaking, the ICR plan is useless because it demands 20% of your income.
The new IBR plan and the PAYE plan are nearly identical.
Because of this, we simulate the three most popular plans above using our income-driven repayment calculator.
It’s not enough to know what the cheapest plan is. If you file taxes as married filing separately, the REPAYE plan may provide interest subsidies while the PAYE plan enables you to exclude a spouse’s income from your calculated payment.
Because of this, if you have a sizable student loan balance, you might want to use some of the money you save from the federal student loan forbearance to hire one of our CFP®, CFA, or CSLP® student loan experts to create a personalized student loan plan for you. Utilizing the aforementioned button, you can examine that choice.
How does IBR work?
IBR is generally a percentage of your discretionary income. That percentage varies by repayment plan:
It’s never more than the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan amount.
In addition, the IBR period is 25 years for existing borrowers who borrowed before July 1, 2014 and 20 years for new borrowers who begin borrowing on or after that date. If your federal student loans are not fully repaid at the end of the repayment period, any outstanding balance is forgiven.
Your required payment under the plan must be lower than what you would pay under the Standard Repayment Plan with a 10-year repayment period in order for you to be eligible for IBR. There is no advantage to having a monthly income-based payment if the amount you would pay under an IBR plan is greater than what you would pay under the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan.
If a borrower’s monthly payment exceeds their annual discretionary income or accounts for a sizable portion of their annual income, they typically meet the IBR eligibility requirement.
When is IBR Not a Good Idea?
In order to determine whether an income-based repayment plan is not in your best interest, consider the following criteria:
If you checked all three boxes, you should probably refinance your student loans to get a lower interest rate so you can pay them off faster.
A quick rate check with a lender like Splash Financial would reveal how much in interest savings you might be eligible for (and if you choose to use them, you’ll receive a refinancing bonus of up to $1,000).
IBR federal student loans
The IBR plan allows you to repay the following federal student loans:
How can IBR work in my favor?
An IBR plan aims to keep your monthly student loan payment as low as possible. An IBR plan might be helpful if you anticipate having a lower income, especially early in your career.
Keep in mind that your IBR payment would be spread out over 12 monthly installments and range from 10% (if you’re a new borrower) to 15% of your discretionary income. Therefore, 10% to 15% of a lower salary should allow you to manageably pay off your student loans.
Additionally, after 20 to 25 years, any remaining balance on your account will be forgiven. Any income-driven repayment plan has two crucial limitations that should be taken into account:
An income driven repayment plan, such as IBR, may be the best choice for you if you’re willing to accept higher interest rates in exchange for a lower monthly student loan payment.
Income-Based Repayment Calculator FAQs
The Income-Driven Repayment Plan Request is an application that must be submitted either online or on paper. You can get this form from the company that handles your federal student loans. You can choose an income-driven repayment program by name, like IBR, on the application, or your loan servicer can decide which programs you qualify for.
Allowing your servicer to enroll you in the plan with the lowest monthly payment is another option. When you apply, you must include information about your income in order to determine whether you qualify for an IBR plan and how much you will have to pay each month.
Two things can happen to get you on an IBR plan:
Following the submission of your application and the evaluation of your financial data, your eligibility for an IBR plan will be determined.
How is my monthly income-based payment amount calculated?
Your discretionary income will serve as the basis for each income-driven repayment plan. Depending on the loan repayment option you choose, the percentage will change.
If you become a new borrower on or after July 1, 2014, for instance, your monthly payment under the IBR plan will typically be 10% of your discretionary income, but it won’t be more than the 10-Year Standard Repayment Plan amount. Your monthly payment under the IBR play is typically 15% of your discretionary income, but again, not more than the Standard 10-Year Repayment Plan amount if you are not a new borrower on or after July 1, 2014.
What does “after 20 to 25 years of qualifying repayment” mean?
Once you’ve made the equivalent of 20 to 25 years’ worth of qualifying monthly payments, you’ll be eligible for student loan forgiveness of the remaining balance. This generally applies to all income-driven repayment plans, including IBR. Additionally, at least 20 or 25 years had to have passed. For income-driven repayment plans, a qualifying monthly payment is one that is made in accordance with:
Will my monthly payment stay the same under an IBR plan?
No. When you start making payments under the IBR plan, as well as any time your income is low enough that your monthly payment would be less than what you’d pay under the 10-Year Standard Repayment Plan, your monthly payment is determined by your income and the size of your family.
However, you can continue on IBR, but your payment would no longer be determined by your income if your income rises to the point where it would cause your monthly payment to be higher than what you would pay under the 10-Year Standard Repayment Plan. Instead, you would make the payment that you would have made under the 10-Year Standard Repayment plan.
How do I know if IBR is the right plan for me?
Once you’ve decided that an income-driven plan is the best option for you, look for the one that provides the most advantages given your situation. You can make payments based on your income under each of the four income-driven plans, but each has different requirements, monthly payment amounts, repayment terms, and loans that can be repaid under it.
If your payment under an IBR plan (based on your income and family size) would be less than what you’d pay under the Standard Repayment Plan with a 10-year repayment period, then IBR could be a good fit for you. IBR is also a good option if your federal student loan debt exceeds your annual discretionary income or makes up a big part of your annual income.
Enter your name and email below, and we’ll send you a much more robust version of the above income-based repayment calculator that you can use.
FAQ
How is PAYE calculated student loan?
The Pay As You Earn Plan is a repayment program with monthly payments typically equal to 10% of your discretionary income divided by 12 but never exceeding the 10-year Standard Repayment amount.
How do you calculate revised pay as you earn?
In accordance with the Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) program, you can anticipate your payments to be 10% of your discretionary income each month. Your adjusted gross income (AGI) less 150% of the state’s poverty line for your family size is used to determine your discretionary income.
How can I pay 50000 off student loans in 5 years?
- Refinance your student loans.
- Find a cosigner to refinance your $50,000 loan.
- Explore your forgiveness options.
- Enroll in autopay.
- Explore income-driven repayment plans.
- Use the debt avalanche method.
How can I pay 200k in 3 years off student loans?
- Refinance your loans.
- Add a cosigner to improve your interest rate.
- Sign up for an income-driven repayment plan.
- Pursue student loan forgiveness.
- Use the debt avalanche or snowball method.