I worked on loan applications, cleaned my MacBook, did some academic assignments for MIT, worked out, ate dinner with my dad at Sahara, and continued doing loan stuff later on.
Most student loan articles that I've read recommend the PLUS loan because it has a fixed interest rate, unlike others that are attached to an index. Ok, that's fair, but what about the fact that the interest rate sucks? 8.5% is pretty bad. I got pre-approved for a private loan at (prime rate - 0.5%), which would make my current rate 4.5%. With bonuses and stuff, and I could get that down a full point during repayment. I know the prime rate goes up, but it would have to go up to 9% to even equal the PLUS loan, and I was looking over the historical trends and anything greater than 9 is very rare. At this point, I'm inclined to take the 4.5%.
Last night before going to bed I finished the excerpt of Ebeneezer Howard's Garden Cities of To-Morrow in the City Reader. That one seems right up there with Jane Jacobs in terms of inspiration factor. His general idea about bringing many of the positive qualities of the country into the city, such as fresh air, trees, and clean water, is one of my basic values in planning. Today I read an op-ed piece by Charles Murray about the impending white underclass arising from increasing illegitimacy rates, and later I read Arguments For and Against Planning by Richard Klosterman. Both readings were assigned as summer work, and they asked that we follow a method similar to the HTRAB method in analyzing them. It was sweet--I feel like I can say that I have inspectionally read both pieces and analytically read the first. Tomorrow I'm going to finish "analyzing" the Klosterman piece.
Everything else was good today. Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser really does work well on the MacBook's palm rest area. I cleaned the palm rests, keys, screen, repaired the main disk and permissions, and took care of my updates. It's still a pleasure to use this computer.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
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3 comments:
How would this company offering the private loan make any money? It is rare that you would be able to get a rate less than 5.5%, and I think I'm being liberal there. With fear of inflation, I'd be skeptical. Just be sure to peruse the agreement, because if this company can resell the loan then the terms may be void and new terms would come with new owners of the loan.
It's legit, I read the agreements. It's not a fixed 4.5%--it's based on the prime rate. They're not the only ones that offer such a rate. There are actually several banks that offer a range from -0.5% to +7.5% or something like that, depending on credit. I guess my credit was really good.
Also, you might need to re-calibrate your concept of what's normal. My undergraduate loans were 4.5% fixed rate BEFORE discounts because of on-time payments and direct deposit (now they're 3.5%). Also, my dad's banker told him that I shouldn't take an 8.5% loan because, "there are much much better rates around, certainly between 4 and 5%"--this coming from a person at a large, private bank.
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