Free primer: IDR vs refinance. Calculator: IBR / RAP / private recast. Paid steps assume you already know SAVE is gone, RAP is the name, and you want a file — not a blog argument about 2024 SAVE payments.
Do this in order
Download the loan list before you open a refinance tab. StudentAid.gov → My Aid. Direct vs FFEL vs Perkins vs private. Parent PLUS is not RAP-eligible. Write the current servicer, disbursement dates, and whether any loan was originated on or after July 1, 2026. A new Direct disbursement after that date is how people accidentally lose IBR on the old balances. Private notes do not belong in an IDR application.
Name the federal features you would sell. RAP, IBR, PSLF, ED forbearance, death/TPD discharge, and the option to recertify a payment down after a job loss. If you cannot name two you are willing to lose, you are not refinancing this week. A 0.4% private cut that ends a PSLF remainder is not a rate win. The calculator’s private 6.00% is an example — a written quote is the only number that counts.
If you were on SAVE: treat the 90-day notice as a deadline, not a newsletter. Court vacated SAVE March 10, 2026. Servicers started notices July 1, 2026. Missing the window can land you on Standard or Tiered Standard, which is a payment designed to repay the balance — it can erase the leftover you thought you were farming. Pick IBR (if still eligible) or RAP. Do not wait for a 2027 plan name. There isn’t one on this run’s date.
Recertify with this year’s AGI and the 2026 poverty guideline, not a 2024 SAVE screenshot. IBR discretionary income is AGI minus 150% of HHS FPL. 2026 48-state FPL is $15,960 for one, $21,640 for two, +$5,680 each additional (effective Jan 13, 2026). Consent to IRS data retrieval if the servicer offers it. A missed recertification is how IBR jumps to the Standard cap and interest capitalizes.
Type live numbers into the calculator. Do not use our defaults. Balance and federal rate from My Aid. AGI from last year’s Form 1040 line 11, or a good estimate if income moved. Family size for IBR, dependents for RAP ($50 each). Cohort: pre-July 2014, July 2014–June 2026, or a new loan on/after July 1, 2026 (RAP only). Private rate from a written offer, not a ranking site. Tax rate at forgiveness: the bracket you actually expect in the discharge year, not 0% because a 2023 blog said ARPA was permanent.
PSLF file, or write “not PSLF” on the page. Qualifying employer, full-time, Employment Certification submitted, 120 qualifying payments. Stay on RAP or IBR (or another eligible plan). Autopay. A forbearance month that does not qualify is a month you donate. The calculator’s PSLF box sets the clock to 120 and zeros the tax bomb under the work-requirement exclusion in Publication 4681. If you are not going to certify employment this quarter, uncheck it. Do not refinance “and keep PSLF.” The Direct loan has to exist.
Put the tax bomb on a calendar if you are taking IDR to forgiveness without PSLF. ARPA’s student-loan exclusion ended December 31, 2025. Time-based IBR/RAP forgiveness in 2026+ is generally Form 1099-C income. On the worked $45k / $55k AGI slice, new IBR leftover is ~$35,700 → ~$7,850 at 22%. RAP leftover after the waiver and $50 match is ~$24,000 → ~$5,280. That is not a surprise in year 20 if you have a sinking fund. Insolvency is Form 982, a balance-sheet test the year of discharge, not a plan you declare now.
House-hunting: open the DTI tool. Do not guess the student-loan line. Conventional files often use the billed IDR payment when it is above $0, and 0.5% of the outstanding balance when the billed payment is $0 or deferred. $45,000 × 0.5% = $225 — almost RAP on the slice. A $0 SAVE-hangover payment is the trap, not RAP at $229. FHA/VA are more likely to take the documented IDR amount. Ask the loan officer which rule they will run before you pay for an appraisal. Details live in the DTI calculator; this playbook will not recast a mortgage.
Private refinance only after four boxes are true. No PSLF path. No need for RAP/IBR if income drops. The recast payment fits take-home after the 401(k) match and a 3-month HYSA. After origination fees, the lifetime cash (payments, no bomb) beats IBR/RAP lifetime cash (payments plus bomb) on your numbers. Then it is an auto loan. Shop two lenders, read the prepayment clause, do not mix the new note with a leftover Direct loan you still want on IDR.
Extra principal is for a note you have decided to amortize. Private recast, or federal loans you are paying off because the rate is high and you have no forgiveness path. Toggle extra only on the private side of the calculator — it does not shorten a RAP 360-payment clock or an IBR 240-payment clock. The clock is qualifying payments. Crushing principal on RAP to “help the tax bomb” is optional and usually loses to the 401(k) match and the HYSA first. See never skip the match.
Autopay, recert date, and a paper folder. One calendar: recertification month, PSLF certification (if any), and the SAVE-exit deadline if you still have one. Screenshot My Aid counts now; servicer counts and IDR counts have not always matched. A new Direct loan after July 1, 2026 is a cohort change — treat it as a new decision, not an add-on. Parent PLUS consolidation tricks that used to reach ICR have a 2025/2026 graveyard; do not rebuild them from a forum post.
Hard-stop list: refinancing Direct to keep PSLF folklore, waiting for a 2027 SAVE successor, treating $0 IDR as $0 DTI, assuming forgiveness is tax-free because ARPA existed, skipping the 401(k) match to crush 6% federal, using this calculator’s 6.39 / 6.00 as live prints, extra-principal on RAP as if it were a 10-year Standard, and a Parent PLUS stuffed into RAP. If the emergency fund is thin, you wanted the HYSA, not a refinance closing.
One-page decision
PSLF path: stay Direct, RAP or IBR, certify employment, ignore private mail. Need the payment to breathe: RAP or IBR, recert on time, tax-bomb sinking fund if you are not PSLF. Can pay a recast, no federal features needed, written quote wins lifetime cash: private, extra principal allowed, one-way door. House file this year: DTI tool, 0.5% recast, documented IDR payment. SAVE is closed. RAP is the name.