Should I consolidate my student loans?

A. This is the one area of debt that we think it IS okay to consolidate your student loans. Mostly because you will be working with large amounts of debt and the interest rates are going to be in the same range. 

A couple things to remember: 

• You can only do this once. So, wait until you have all of your loans together and you are not going to be getting any more. 
• Work to get a fixed-rate. Variable rates will end up costing you more in the long-run, especially since you can only consolidate once. 
• Don't extend the life of the loans. Once again, this will end up costing you more money in the long run. 
  
• GET INTENSE AND PAY THEM OFF! Just because you consolidate does not mean that you can let them linger around. Don't believe the myth that you can make more money using the money somewhere else because nowhere else will you have a guaranteed return that equals the interest rate that you are getting rid of.