BA Q&A: Should I Keep Paying My Student Loans While PSLF?
Brown Ambition
iHeartPodcasts
4.8 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 30 January 2026
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Mandi is back for a solo BA Q&A, answering a juicy listener question about balancing student loans, grad school, a possible home move, and a new car payment—all while chasing Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). She breaks down how PSLF *actually* works, why “qualifying payments” matter so much, and when it can make sense to pause extra payments and redirect cash toward savings and other priorities instead.
What we dive into:
- How PSLF really works and what counts as a qualifying payment.
- Whether you should keep paying loans that are in in-school deferment.
- How to prioritize between:
- Building a 3–6 month emergency fund.
- Saving for moving and homebuying costs.
- Paying down a high car note.
- Why three months of savings may no longer be enough in today’s economy.
- Practical next steps to confirm your PSLF status and get your paperwork right.
Listener Question Highlight
Sydney, a 34‑year‑old nurse working toward PSLF, asks whether she should keep making a $500 monthly student loan payment while her loans are in deferment—or pause to focus on savings, a future move, and her car note.
Links:
Federal student aid and PSLF info: studentaid.gov
Stay Connected
- Email your questions: brownambitionpodcast@gmail.com.
- Send a voice note or DM on IG: @brownambitionpodcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is an IHeart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:37.7 | Hey, hey, BA fam. What's up and welcome back to Brown Ambition. It's your girl, Mandy Money, and I'm so excited to be here at IHeart Studio. I'm in the red room, y'all. Like, I think the chair I'm sitting on, many a famous butt has been on it, not just, you know, mine. I'm so, so happy to be here with y'all, B.A It's the BAQA. This is where I take your questions, and I give you my lowercase A answer. So let me get this out of the way. Do not come for me. Do not try to sue me. I have children. I need to put them through college, okay? When I'm giving you all my advice is my best take as a longtime business and financial journalist, |
| 0:43.3 | personal finance, expert, career coach, queen, all the above. All right. So again, don't sue me. |
| 0:48.3 | Now, before I get started, please send me your questions. You can hit me up at Brown Ambition podcast at gmail.com or you can slide into my DM's Brown Ambition podcast on IG. I getting y'all's voice notes. So if you want to just get it off your chest, go ahead, drop me a voice note in IG. Or if you know, more of an analog girly, then you can hit me up via email. I so look forward to hearing from y'all. I love, love answering y'all's questions. Let's start with a really juicy one from listener |
| 1:12.0 | Sydney. All right, Sydney. Sydney says, hey, friend in my head. I'm a 34-year-old full-time nurse |
| 1:18.4 | married with no children, currently managing a student loan balance of roughly $30,000, with a monthly |
| 1:25.2 | payment of $500. Based on my calculations i've got about |
| 1:29.0 | three years of payments left before i qualify for public service loan forgiveness i am also starting my |
| 1:35.0 | master's degree and by securing in-state tuition i was able to reduce the total cost of tuition |
| 1:40.4 | from 65,000 to 20,000 yes for in-state with employer tuition reimbursement of65,000 to $20,000. Yes, for in-state. With employer tuition reimbursement of $5,250 per |
| 1:49.8 | calendar year, my remaining out-of-pocket costs should be relatively small. My husband and I currently |
| 1:55.7 | owe a home, but we are planning to sell and purchase a new one that's closer to work as my current commute |
| 2:01.6 | is 33 miles each way out. Earlier this year I had to purchase a new car due to commute demands |
| 2:08.2 | resulting in a monthly car payment of nearly $600. Both my husband and I have excellent credit. |
| 2:14.4 | He carries about 50 grand in student loans but no car payment. Okay, what a man. |
| 2:19.1 | We maintain just under three months of savings in a high-yield savings account as we navigate |
| 2:24.0 | these financial and life transitions. So here's my question. Since my loans are currently in deferment |
| 2:30.4 | due to being a student again, do I stop making payments and focus on the hopeful move and new mortgage payment, or do I push forward and keep making that $500 payment to get closer to loan forgiveness? Because who knows if that will go away with the current administration? I've already delayed my public service loan forgiveness by not making payments |
| 2:51.9 | during another deferment period working toward my second degree, as well as during the COVID pause. |
| 2:57.6 | So I'm kicking myself for not being done by now. Any suggestions you may have to improve my |
| 3:03.0 | financial situation are welcome. Okay, Ms. Thang, well, first of all, congratulations on being married with no |
... |
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