Now free from large monthly payments, Nadal will redirect his monthly payments toward building his kids' future. PSLF forgives the student loans of public school teachers and other nonprofit workers after 120 "qualifying payments" (about 10 years of consistent payments). At year five of making payments, Nadal called his student loan servicer to make sure he was on the right track. Finally, weeks later, his student loan account showed a zero balance and he received a letter saying $124,572 of his student loans had been completely forgiven. He says, "Before, it was a different feeling because I just had to pay off my student loans, and I couldn't save money.

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