Student Loan Financial Advisor/Planning

[Indebted]

Has anyone ever hired a financial advisor/planner to help sort through student loan debt? I'm not sure if it's best for me to consolidate or not, given that I have both direct and non-direct loans, but am already over a year into an IBR plan and hoping for PSLF. Online calculators don't seem set up to figure out the pros and cons of each scenario (consolidating and paying on all for an extra year, or not and having less forgiven). 

Also curious if people have used financial advisors for just general help other than investment advising. I could probably use general debt management and savings advice, but don't need to buy any "products." 

[thought about it]

I can't offer any advice on your student loan q's (I had loans outside USA) but I have thought about going to a financial advisor for general advice on debt management, savings, and other questions. In the end, I found enough good information online to come up with some basic proportions for what I wanted to accomplish given my priorities and income. If your situation is pretty simple overall as mine was/is, you shouldn't have to toss away a couple hundred to an advisor to tell you what you can find online.

[Kindred]

I encountered the same issue. There is really no one out there that does this. Really the IBR/Pay as You goe and the PSLF are the most important things you can do. All of your loans will need to be 'Direct' and managed by Fedloan for PSLF to work. As for consolidating, that all depends on your interest rates. Studentloans.gov offers a decent calculator for what kind of payments you can expect with a direct loan.

Another thing to consider are Loan Repayment programs. The NIH LRP, for example, will pay off student loans if you enter into a contract with them to conduct a certain amount of health research. I have not come across another group that offers something like this, but it is definitely worth keeping your eyes peeled for.