Have you wondered how student loans work? My son Cameron has just finished his degree and I was a little unsure how it all worked particularly if he decides to travel so here is the deal!
“Yes” they are Interest free but there are some rules around this …
- Only while living in NZ, SL tax code.
- If you are earning less than $19,084 you will not need to pay it back … not a goal to aspire to!
- as long as the student is not overseas for more than 183 consecutive days
Interest is charged…
- from when you leave NZ if away for more than 183 days
- Current interest rate 4.40%, has been up to 6.40%
- once back in NZ for 6 months it can revert to interest free (from the time you re-entered NZ)
Governments can and will keep changing the rules!
When you are living overseas you have minimum student loan repayments as outlined below so if for example your loan was $17,000 you would have to pay $1,000 by the 30th of September and a further $1,000 by the 31st of March.
If you have any questions regarding student loans, the following website can give you further details:-
http://www.ird.govt.nz/studentloans/
As always, any questions regarding your insurances, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. As some of you will know, the dedicated insurers will allow you to increase your cover if you have a special event occur in your life WITHOUT having to undergo medical underwriting. One such special event is your child commencing tertiary study. So if this influences your requirements, give me a call and we can see how this may benefit you.
So good that spring has sprung!
Enjoy
Lynda